


Blind

by AloneShadow



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Caring Kirk, Doctor McCoy must save everyone, Hostage Situations, Hurt Bones, Hurt Kirk, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Post-Star Trek (2009), Sassy Bones, There's love in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-21 13:18:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11358297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow
Summary: James Kirk makes a quick decision, as always, andas alwasysomeone will get hurt.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Writing about Spock is like trying to write about Sherlock: frightening as hell, especially if English is not your first language... I have watched only the recent Star Trek's movies so, aside from those, I admit I'm like Jon Snow: I know (almost) nothing.

“You’re a damn stupid kid. No, scratch that: a complete, damn stupid captain.” 

“Bones, shut up.” 

“You have no idea of what that thing was and you-“ 

“I heard something. Will you shut up for a second?” 

“You ate a damn alien fruit, an unknown alien fruit just because _it looked tasty_!” 

“Well, it was!” 

“Who’s gonna take your dead body back to the Enterprise, huh? Because I’m not!” 

“You will, but that won’t be necessary so now, _please_ shut UP.” James Kirk glared nervously back at hiM with his phaser in hand, ready to use it to stun him on the spot. 

On his part, Leonard McCoy stared back at him with cold eyes before shook his head and started to search for medical stuff in the little bag he has taken with him for their little trip on a recently discovered planet, murmuring curses between himself. 

After another moment, they keep walking into the unknown forest: Kirk was leading the two of them, carefully looking left and right, trying to hear anything that could be a warning of danger. They’ve met only some animals so far: one similar to a horse, then another that could be a fancy version of an elephant, completely white and with bright yellow eyes. That thing made the two of them frown more than anything, but it looked peaceful, so they continued their journey after taking some picture and sent everything to the Enterprise that was keeping track of them from outside the planet’s atmosphere. 

Jim kept hearing the doctor murmuring but just sighed, trying to be patient. He knew that go down exploring with Bones wouldn’t have been any funnier than exploring with Spock, but the Vulcan’s complaints usually died shortly after he started to analyze the new world. 

Bones… well, Bones was just a constant reminder that everything around was potentially lethal in terrifying ways. The planet itself was a mass of forest, wild nature and terrible weather, so they couldn’t be sure that was uninhabited yet. Of course, James Kirk was ready to check by himself: he organized the little trip and Leonard McCoy was the one closest to him in the room, so they just jumped into the transporter room before the storm around the planet could get worst.

Jim took a deep breath passing a hand over his sweaty forehead, hearing a “Woah!” behind him that made him stop and look back, “What now?” 

“Look.” Leonard was crouching on the ground with the first light smile on his face since they landed on the planet. “Looks like a crystal… but somehow alive.” 

Jim bowed next to him and blinked in surprise: there was actually a dim light inside the purple crystal, pulsing like a heartbeat. He looked back at the doctor and grinned, “So you actually have the heart of an explorer?” 

Leonard snorted, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” That was a fair question, nonetheless. Leonard McCoy was an amazing doctor, grumpy, nervous temper aside, and that he could’ve easily found a work whatever he wanted… yet he'd choose a space ship with years of missions in the unknown space scheduled in the near future. 

“I’ll never get used to a Bones enjoying space trip.” Jim laughed. 

_Would be better to say that I’m here only because of you?_ , was what Leonard wanted to say. He knew since the first time he took Jim on the Enterprise illegally… he knew that he would’ve followed that crazy kid everywhere he asked him to go. Not just because they slowly become best friends during the three years in the Academy, but because he wanted to stay close to him. He wanted to see him become the Captain he knew Jim would have become- or trying to keep him alive long enough to see it happen. He wanted to tell him how proud he was, and that he was- 

_That I’m in love with an idiot,_ Leonard told to himself staring at the fancy crystal. He then looked up and in a blink, he passed from enjoyment to his doctor’s frown again, “Jim, you ok?” 

“Yes, Bones, I am. Can’t you just enjoy the moment for once?” 

“I was, but you don’t look that good.” 

“I’m human, I usually sweat in this kind of heat.” 

“It’s not that hot here.” 

Jim was going to answer something else, but he saw that the doctor wasn’t panting like he was, and he knew that he wasn’t that kind of runner with a work like he’s. “’Guess I’m more tired than I thought.” He said standing up, passing a hand over his face again. 

“Hold on, let me…” Leonard took the tricorder from the bag and started to check him up. 

“Enough with that thing…” 

“I told you, you’re too heavy for me to bring you back on my shoulders.” He said moving closer, keep scanning his face. 

“It’s nothing, I just-“ Jim blinked fast while his vision started to focus and unfocus. He thought he heard Bones said something and the moment after he was grasping the doctor not to fall down and heard the clear _Dammit Jim_ from him. “Sorry… I think- I think something’s off.” 

“You never listen to me, NEVER. Why you even bother to take a doctor on your ship if you never listen?” Leonard said nervously, trying to put everything back in the bag with one hand, keeping him up with the other. 

“Well, there’s the rest of the crew to take care of…” 

“Shut up or I leave you here.”

Jim smiled a bit because, like always, Bones’ words were harsh, but his actions were not: the doctor helped him down on the grass overly careful, gently passing a hand over his forehead, then checking his eyes and his pulse. “Any conclusion?” he asked then, eyes half open. 

“Yes: you are an idiot.” 

“Anything else?” 

“I’m surprised you managed to become the captain of a Starfleet’s ship.” 

“To be a doctor, you’re not very- AGH!” He jumped when the said doctor stabbed him with a hypospray into his neck. 

“Just in case,” Leonard explained with a blank expression. 

“Little warning next time?” Jim saw him studying him with his professional glare, “You think it’s because of that fruit I ate?” 

“I was thinking about the crystal too, but I’m fine so far… but there’s at least one conclusion that is right for sure.” 

“Which is?” 

“That _you really are an idiot_.” 

Jim sighed and coughed a bit, vision distorted for a moment, “I think I’m melting…” 

“Luckily for me, you’re not.” 

“We need… to go back to the ship.” 

“I tried to call them, but the signal must be disturbed by the storm… We need to find you some water.” Leonard said. 

“There’s water here?” 

“I saw a river on a map of the planet. Maybe it’s not too far from us.”

Jim saw him look around, then push on his com. “Bones, I think I can…” 

“McCoy to Enterprise, you copy?” 

After some buzz and broken words, someone finally responded, “Enterprise here, speak up.” 

“Can you bring us back?” 

“Not at the moment, sir. The transporter needs to be recalibrated because of the storm. It's going to take a while.” 

The doctor sighed, “Fine. I need to know if there’s some water source around us. The Captain is not feeling well, but I think is nothing lethal. I need you to-” 

Jim lost some words there, bending on one side, but the doctor’s hand grabbed him before he could fall down again, and he suddenly opened his eyes, awake. 

“-and keep a team from sickbay ready, just in case. I’ll keep in touch.” Leonard closed the call and looked down at him, “Ok… got the map. The river is two kilometers north from here.” He checked the device on his wrist that suddenly showed a little hologram of the place around them before disappear, “Up you go, _Captain_.” He said, helping him to stand. 

“I feel… like my skin is burning…” Kirk murmured, feeling sweat dripping from his face, also he could feel it on his back, under the shirt that was suddenly unbearable to keep on. 

“No, no, no naked runs into the alien woods.” Leonard said grabbing his hands to stop him from removing the yellow jacket. 

“I can’t keep it on, I’m dying... I’m too hot…”

“We’re not at the beach and I don’t trust you going half naked around here.” Leonard swirled Jim’s arm over his shoulders to keep him standing, “Once we found the river, I’ll check the water and then you’ll be free to take a nice, hopefully cold bath, promise.” 

“Bones, seriously… I can’t breathe…” 

“You _are_ breathing.” He corrected him, but he could see that his captain was panting hard. 

“I feel like I have the worst fever ever… we don’t have anything for that?” 

“I can’t give you random medicines if I don’t know what’s in your body.” 

“And you can’t- how you can know that?”

“Keeping you alive long enough to bring us back on the ship.” 

“Then we need-“ 

“I’ve asked the bridge to send a shuttle to us. We just have to wait a bit.” 

“Oh… really?” 

“You weren’t listening?” 

“I guess I missed something… well done, Doctor.” Jim smiled at him, staring at his face so close now: Leonard sighed, his face serious, but also worried… the usual worry that he tended to keep hidden most of the time. 

He looked down at him, frowning, “What?” 

Jim smiled a bit, “I like your eyes.” 

“God help me…” 

“Hey, it was a compliment.” 

“I don’t need compliments. I need to keep your temperature in check…” Leonard stopped for a moment, feeling his friend falling against him, “Jim- shit, Jim come on- wake up.” He said, both of them now unbalanced. 

“Huh- I’m awake.” He said, suddenly raising his head, “We’re home already?” and he could swear he heard something like _I am gonna drown you in that damn river myself_ from the doctor. 

“No, but you’ll feel better in a minute,” Leonard answered instead, keep walking. He was starting to feel Jim’s body like a hot rock against himself, so he looked at him with his bad-hidden worried glare again. 

“Is it normal that my head feels so heavy?” 

Leonard pressed a hand to his forehead, “There’s some fever…”

“Oh ok… no worries then.” 

“Why you can never act like an adult?” 

“What? What have I done now?” 

“Who’s eating things from the ground? What are you, a dog?” 

“That apple wasn’t on the ground-” 

“You had no idea what that was in the first place!” 

“it was on a tree!” 

“What if it was poisoned?” 

Jim just sighed, not enough energy to answer. He closed his eyes, head down, trying to breathe, air hurting like fire into his lungs. He felt Bones slowing down and then proceeding again, probably checking where to go. “I’m sorry…” he murmured staring at their feet stepping on the grass. It was starting to rain.

Leonard didn’t answered, but kept walking until he stopped again, now suddenly and a panicked “Shit-!” escaped from him. 

Jim didn’t actually realized that the grass wasn’t there anymore until he was falling into darkness and then found himself trapped in water so cold that almost made him scream as if something stabbed him right in the chest. He couldn’t breathe, it was hard even to move and he had nothing to grab to find his ground. When he was close to panic about ending his life in that terrifying way, he found air again and managed to take some breaths between harsh coughs. 

“Jim- Jim it’s ok, breathe. Calm down and breathe!” 

He heard Bone’s voice again and felt two hands grasping his shoulders. Jim kept his eyes closed until his body stopped rocking everywhere, feeling those hands helping him to lay still. Then, he could see the sky above, between the trees. He was floating in the water… 

Leonard’s face appeared over the sky after a bit, completely soaked, water dripping from his hair and face, “You ok? Are you hurt?” 

“You are,” Jim said lazily, staring at the red line of blood down the side of the doctor’s face. 

“Just hit my head in the fall. You’re sure you didn’t get hurt?” 

“No… What happened? I’m-“ Jim tried to turn around but the water was against his face and Bones helped him to stay still on the surface. “We found the river?” 

“We did.” 

Jim sighed in relief, slowly starting to enjoy the cold sensation, “Thank God… I mean- thanks, Bones.” 

“You still have enough strength to be ironic? You’re not so sick, then.” He said standing next to him, passing a hand over his face to dry some of the water. He then looked down and saw him staring again, “Now what?” 

“You’re sexy like this.” 

Leonard stared at him with a cold-stone glare. “I can’t do this anymore…” he then growled looking away, shaking his head. He flinched just a bit when a hand caressed his cheek stained with blood. 

“Sorry about this,” Jim said more seriously.

“You better be.” 

“I’ll take care of it if you want…” 

“Why the hell do you have to flirt with everyone when you’re sick?” 

“Honestly, I think I do it only with you…” 

“Yes, because I’m the one always there to patch you up.” 

“You’re killing the mood...” 

Leonard was hating his life at the moment. “There’s no mood. You are sick… How you’re feeling, by the way?” 

Jim sighed, closing his eyes over the nice sensation of floating into the cold water, “Better.” 

“Good. Then you haven’t seen where we are yet.” 

The captain opened his eyes and saw him grinning, “Why? Where- where are we?” 

“Well… into a river, and I guess this is water…” 

Jim frowned and looked around, with some help from the doctor that kept him from drowning and blinked in surprise: the water was purple. After a moment, he looked up at him worried, “You drank some of it?” 

“Probably as much as you did.” 

“But- it’s purple... Bones get out of here, we don’t know what this is-” 

“I think I know, calm down.” He said tiredly, keeping him over the surface, “There are more of those crystals we saw before under our feet. Their light probably made the water purple, but we should be fine. Hopefully.” 

“Hopefully.” 

“We _fell_ in here, I didn’t happily dive in.” 

Jim didn’t say anything. He was fine with jumping in everything in his way, but he hated to put his friends in danger. That’s something he knew he needed to work on.

“We’re lucky, all considered.” Leonard said after a bit, looking around, “We’re not dead, you have your cold bath and the shuttle should be here in some minutes.” 

“Sorry Bones…” 

“It’s fine.” 

“I’ll try to stop the- the flirting thing until we’re back on the ship.” 

“I don’t mind.” Was Leonard instant answer while stroking his hair in the water, and he wasn’t expecting to say that aloud. He blinked and looked down for a second, regretting it already: Jim was staring at him with his mouth partly open, but then he closed it when their eyes locked.

A low hum made them both blink and look away: the shuttle was landing in a little clear zone not too far. 

“That’s our ride.” Leonard said trying to keep it cool, “Think you can move?” 

“Uh- yeah…” Jim grabbed his hand to stand, placing his feet on the colorful underwater floor. It felt bad leaving that cold relief, because he was still burning up, “Still so hot…” 

“Once back on the ship, I’ll fix you, ok?” 

“You’re too good with me, Bones…” 

“I am.” He nodded tiredly while dragging him out the water, both of them completely soaked, the rain getting heavier. 

Leonard made him sit on the grass, against the shuttle, and entered to check everything, “McCoy here. Enterprise, we’re ready to leave. Any chance the teleport is working?”

“No, sir, I’m sorry. The medical team is waiting in the hangar for you.” 

“Alright...” Leonard nodded and activated the autopilot to the ship before left the console to walk outside. 

“No Spock?” Jim asked, lolling his head over him. 

“No need to bother more people to come down here. Taking care of you alone is stressful enough.” He answered, crouching close to him to check his forehead again, “Fever’s rising…” 

“Better be quick then…” Jim smiled a bit, then looked behind him and frowned, “That’s not Spock… right?” 

Leonard made the same face and followed his gaze, just to blink in surprise: there were three persons few meters away, apparently all humans, two men and a woman with long, dark-green hair. She looked very worried, eyes darting from one to another, their clothes dirty and ruined.

“Gentlemen. Miss.” Leonard said, standing in front of his confused Captain, “we thought we were alone here.” He continued, raising his hands when one of the men pointed a gun at him, “Can’t say we’re happy that we’re not.” 

“We need that shuttle.” The man with short black hair said, making a step forward with his gun still aimed at the doctor.

Leonard quickly noticed the wound on his other arm, “You… you guys need help?” he asked carefully, “Because we can help. We’re on a mission to-“ 

“I don’t care who you are or what you’re doing here,” the man screamed, then tried to calm down, “I just- I want you to move aside and let us use that shuttle.” 

The woman took a little step ahead, “Maybe we should-“ 

“Shut up, Kira.” He yelled without looking back, angry eyes locked on the doctor. 

Leonard knew this was a delicate situation, especially with Jim sick and useless at the moment… but that thought was just a reminder to stay focus. “You need to leave this planet, I get it, but I need to leave as well. My friend needs help, I’m not gonna leave him here.” 

Kira and the other man looked sadly at their friend with the gun still up. 

“Listen, we’re just explorers, we don’t want any problem,” Leonard said, voice calm and reasonable, “we can take you all on our spaceship and help you, then we’ll take you back here if you want, or to the closest planet.” 

“Bones, what the-“ Jim murmured, but a kick in his side shut him up. 

“No need to explain anything if you don’t want to,” Leonard insisted: he wouldn’t lose this fight, not with Jim’s conditions getting worse, “but I can’t let you take the shuttle.” 

“Leave it to me…” Jim slowly stood up, just to fall against the doctor that grabbed him just in time. 

“We don’t need to come with you.” The man said, still nervous, but now also worried, “We need- I need a doctor, so you call one down here, or I’ll go on your ship to get one.” 

Leonard almost laughed, but know better that wouldn’t be a wise decision, “Well, you’re lucky. I’m a doctor.” 

The three of them looked surprised for a moment, then Kira said, almost relieved, “Really? You can help us?” 

“Doctor Leonard McCoy at your service, and yes, I probably can help. Just let me send my friend back on our ship. I’ll stay here to help you, alright?” 

“What?” Jim’s voice was stronger now, grabbing his jacket, “What are you talking about?” he asked, frowning at him. 

“You let him go back, and I’ll help you.” Leonard said again, staring at the other group, “I don’t know what you need my help for, but I can ask for more medicines from our ship if needed. Once he go back there, of course.” He needed to take Jim on the Enterprise. That was not negotiable. 

Kira and the other man sighed in relief, staring at who it seemed to be leading their group. 

“Bones, you’re not going to-“

“Shut up, Jim.” He hissed nervously.

The man with the gun thought for a moment, then nodded, “Fine. You stay here and he can go, but I’ll be sure that you’re not going to play any trick.” That said, gun still up, he moved closer and grabbed Leonard’s shoulder and haul him away. 

Without any support, Jim fall back against the shuttle. Looking at Bones kept hostage, his glare cleared a bit, now angry, “I warn you, if you hurt him…” 

“Take him aboard.” The man said to the other two that carefully, almost apologetically, moved Jim inside the shuttle and then outside again, while Leonard set the shuttle to depart in autopilot.

“Two minutes,” Leonard said when everything was done, well aware that the gun was pointed against his head to keep the Captain in his place. He saw him sitting on one of the chairs, still breathing hard, but also worried for his friend, before the man roughly took him outside, and the door hissed closed.

Still in that rough grasp, Leonard could only stare at the shuttle slowly moving up and fly away, taking Jim back on the Enterprise, leaving the doctor behind.

.-.-.-.-.

Jim woke up with a team of medic and nurse hovering over him, “BONES! Where's Bones?” he screamed suddenly, making all of them jump back when he sat up on the bed. He was in the sickbay again, but this time Bones wasn’t there cursing against him.

“He wasn’t with you on the shuttle, Captain.” One of the nurses said. 

“He- SPOCK!” he called for him when spotted the First Officer in the doorway, hands behind his straight back as usual. 

“Captain.” He answered stepping next to him in a second. 

“You heard something from Doctor McCoy?” 

“No, Captain. His com seems to be dead.” 

“You really need to say _dead_?” 

The Vulcan blinked, “ _Apparently deactivated_ is maybe more appropriate?” 

Jim sighed and stood, just to fall sat on the bed: he was still hot, breathing a bit hard and his skin burning a little, but less than before. “I need to go back down there… get him back… What about the transporter?” 

“Still not available, Captain. Can you tell us what exactly happened on the planet?” Spock asked somehow interested. 

“I- I ate some strange fruit that sent my temperature up. We were going to go use the shuttle to go back, but there were people on the planet…” 

“People?” The Vulcan frowned. 

“Yes, but I don’t think they live there. They asked for the shuttle and a doctor, so…” 

“So Doctor McCoy offered himself to them, allowing you to left the planet and be cured.” 

“Yes. Thanks, Spock. I just needed to hear it from you.” 

“Just my duty, Captain.” He nodded and follow the man when he walked away the med bay ignoring all the calls from the staff, “May I suggest you a checkup before going back on the planet? Your physical conditions are not ideal for a rescue mission…” 

“Find me something to put down my temperature, then, and fast. I’m not gonna stay here while Doctor McCoy is stuck with those people. Who knows what they need him for...” 

“Captain-“ 

“It’s an order, Spock.” Kirk said stopping to look at him, anger that quickly turned into frustration, “He don’t even have a phaser with him. He’s not- Bones is a Doctor, but he can be a pain in the ass as much as I am, so I don’t want to leave him with them for too long.” 

Spock stared at him for a moment, then nodded and turn around to go back in the Medical bay. 

Jim took a deep breath, while the last moments on the planet sent a shiver of anger thorough his already hot body. “Damn it, Bones… if they don’t kill you, I’m gonna do it myself.” He murmured proceeding to the bridge.


	2. Chapter 2

The fourth time the gun hit Leonard between his shoulder blades, he stopped and looked back at the man, “Seriously, can you not?” he snorted watching the three of them stop abruptly at his halt, “If you want me to go the right direction, just put one of you on the lead.” 

“Keep walking.” The man hissed back. 

“I swear, hit me with that thing again-“ 

“I’ll go first.” Kira said, moving ahead, then looking at her friends, “He just wants to help us. He’s not an enemy.” 

The man was close to say something, but then changed his mind, “Then walk.” He only ordered. 

She sighed, sending a patience glare at the doctor before comply.

Leonard breathed out and followed her, “At least someone knows how to treat a guest.” 

“You’re not a guest.” The man said. 

“Clearly, or you would at least introduce yourself. Stealing my com wasn’t that polite, either.” 

“Can you just shut up and walk?” 

“Well, if you ask nicely,” Leonard answered in annoyance. He was surprised for a second when a hand made him turn around, then a punch in the face sent him down on the grass. 

“That was nice enough for you, _Doctor_?” the man said, ready to continue. 

“Stop it!” Kira quickly moved between them, sending a look to the other man, pleading for some help. 

“Hey, Kayle…” he said stepping closer to him, “A word? Privately?” and they slowly walked aside.

“Kayle, huh? Nice to meet you.” Leonard commented massaging his cheek, trying to ignore the furious glare from the man. Looking back at her, he asked, “He’s always so adorable?” 

“He’s just worried…” Kira murmured crouching next to him, “We shouldn’t have come on this planet.” 

Leonard accepted her help to stand, “Then why you’re here?” 

She looked at him and then at her friends, then said with a low voice, “We accepted a job… Someone asked us to find something on this planet- an animal, a rare animal that is extinct on its original planet.” 

“An animal? I thought this was about a magical treasure or something…” 

“It kind of is. They searched for this species for years, asking other hunters to find it too, but they lost contact with them. It took us months to find some trace of their ship, and the last place they reached was here. Sadly, we had some problem during the landing.” 

“You crashed?” 

“Almost. We have our androids repairing the damage, but the medical section is useless at the moment… and then, of course, one of us had an accident.” 

“You mean it’s not just the three of you?” 

“No, there’s Andy- Kayle’s brother. We were exploring the forest and he fell into a strange plant and we couldn’t- we can’t help him. We don’t know how.” 

Leonard sighed, “And then you saw the shuttle.” 

“We thought about medicines first, we didn’t wanted to kidnap anyone or steal the shuttle, but Kayle- he’s worried we won’t make it in time.” 

The Doctor thought for a moment, “We better move, then.” 

“That’s the first thing I’m glad to hear from you, Doctor.” Kayle said coming closer to them, “You know enough of our business, now?” he added, sending a cold glare at Kira that looked down. 

“Like you say, _I am_ a doctor. I need to know and see what happened to be able to help.” 

“You will see it, and you better be a good doctor.” 

Leonard let a nervous snort out and turn to follow Kira into the woods while a thunder rumbled in the sky. 

 

“What animal are you guys searching, anyway?” Leonard asked after a long moment of silent walking under the rain. He was freezing, he had to think about something else.

Kira looked back and saw Kayle nod, “It’s similar to a wolf.” She said shortly. 

“A wolf… and it shouldn’t be here. How did it manage to arrive on this planet, then?” 

“We don’t know,” Kayle said behind him. 

“This wolf can fly or something?” 

“Doctor, I swear I’ll punch you again if you-“ 

“We’re here!” Kira said, running over the little cliff. 

When Leonard stopped next to her, his eyes were already scanning the body he saw below: a young man was on the ground, under a dead, big tree. Andy’s lower-body hidden into a large bush, the long branches covering most of the fallen tree.

Kayle moved ahead, descending quickly to reach his brother. After a moment, he felt someone crouching next to him and saw it was the doctor. 

Leonard was already checking for Andy’s pulse, “He’s alive, but the heartbeat is weak…” he then looked better at his status but found no wounds… yet, the guy was extremely pale. 

“You can help him?” Kira asked, some steps behind them. 

Leonard stared at the branches: one was all around Andy’s legs, “This is the strange plant you told me about?” 

“Yes.” 

“It’s killing him, somehow.” Kayle interjected, now with real concern on his face and in his voice, “We tried to free him, but he screamed like we were cutting his legs off.” 

Leonard was elaborating the information, then something caught his attention: a light whimper. Looking better into the bushes, he saw a little animal, terribly similar to a wolf. “Is that what I think it is?” he looked back at them, but no one answered, “You find the wolf, didn’t you? And your brother fell in here with him trying to capture it.” 

“We don’t care about that monster anymore.” Kayle snarled, “I need you to free my brother, that’s it.” 

The doctor sent one last glare at the little wolf before focusing on the man. He slowly tried to move the branch and Andy groaned in pain instantly but stayed unconscious. “He’s injured?” 

“No.” 

“He is so pale, though…” Kira said quietly.

Leonard looked at the plant one more time, then said, “We need to cut it. You have a knife or something?” 

“You think we didn’t thought about that? What if trying to cut it will kill him?” Kayle snapped. 

“I’ve never seen this plant before, but leaving him here, he’ll be dead in- maybe thirty minutes.” He wasn’t surprised when Kayle grabbed him by the collar of his blue shirt. Being a doctor help to see this kind of reactions coming. 

“Kayle, he’s right.” The other man said, moving next to them, “We can’t wait… that plant is killing him.” 

“If he dies…” 

“We can’t blame Doctor McCoy for that.” Kira said more seriously now, and both of them looked at her, “He’s just trying to help. We called this on ourselves when we accepted this stupid job.” 

Kayle looked angrily at her, then at the doctor before pushed him away. “We have knives.” 

“Good.” Leonard said and crouched better on the ground, studying the situation, “Start from that big branch at his feet, one you cut that one instead… not the one around his legs. I’ll keep an eye on that one.” 

They all nodded and started to move around their companion. 

Leonard was staring at the branch trapping the man, still not sure about what it was doing to his legs. After some work, Kayle and Kira moved away and started to drag him away from the bush.

“It’s- I think thorns are inside the leg…”

The three of them looked at the doctor. “Thorns?” They all repeated. 

“That’s why he was in pain when you tried to move him,” Leonard explained, carefully poking the branch, then looked up at him, “I can’t take it off now, not like this. A bleeding could be lethal for him.” 

“But he’s not injured…” Kira said slowly. 

“I think the plant was absorbing his blood.” 

“A plant can do that? How?” Kayle asked. 

Leonard nodded, “I am pretty sure, through the thorns.” 

“My God…” the other man said, shaking his head. 

Leonard looked more seriously at Kayle, “He needs to be operated to remove that thing from his legs; in a clean, equipped place, not into the woods. I can call my ship, we can-“ 

“No.” Kayle said, cold and angry again, “We’ll leave this planet and take him home. People will take care of him, there.” 

“He’s not out of danger yet-“ 

“We’ll be ready to leave soon as we reach our ship.” 

“Damn it- are you listening to me? He is still in danger. You have a Starfleet’s ship above your head, for Lord’s sake, let us help him!” and Leonard understood that he choose the wrong words the moment he was rage flashing in Kayle’s eyes. 

“We have nothing to share with the Federation.” Kayle hissed and took his brother himself, placing him on his shoulder before turn around to leave, followed by his worried friend. 

Leonard was shaking his head when he saw Kira looking sadly at the two climbing the cliff. “You better keep an eye on him. He won’t survive long without a transfusion. I would’ve tackled your friend down by now, if it wasn’t for that gun. I don’t like to see my patients die because of some idiot.”

She turned to him and sighed, handing back his com, “Thanks for your help, Doctor.”

He took it and watched her turning to leave, but then he called her again, “Hey… can I have your knife?” 

She frowned a little, but come back and handed it to him, “I hope your Captain is doing well, by now.” 

“Oh, I’m sure he is.” He nodded and watched all four of them disappearing over the cliff. Still shaking his head, he activated the com and put it back into his hear, “McCoy to Enterprise, you copy?” he called and the answer arrived after a moment.

“BONES!” 

“Shit- Jim, I’m not deaf!” he yelled back. 

“You disappear for almost an hour!” 

“Sorry, got my com back just now.” 

“You ok? What happened?” 

“Yeah. The guys are gone.” 

“Are you hurt?” 

“No, I’m fine. Calm down.” 

“Calm down? Bones, you- di you realized that you sent your Captain away before being kidnapped?” 

“I wasn’t kidnapped. I told them I would’ve stayed with them- ouch!” Leonard flinched back when, moving closer to the bushes, some thorns scratched his arm. The little wolf turned a bit and cried out stronger. 

“What’s that sound?” 

“Apparently they’re hunters… come here to get a wolf- the same wolf you’re hearing crying. It’s stuck in this weird plant… like one of the hunters was.” He said working on the branches.

“So they actually needed a doctor…?” 

“Yeah. Once he was free, they took him away and left. I don’t know if he’s gonna make it, though.” 

“Why?” 

“Because the plant almost killed him, and they didn’t want our help.” Leonard was kneeling closer, slowly cutting the branches around the little puppy, “Damn it- come on, buddy, I’m trying to help here…” he sighed at the poor little wolf that cried even more. 

“Bones, we need to teleport you back, but the storm is still messing with us so we need to do it right now-“ 

“Gimme a minute.” 

“We don’t have a minute!” 

“Then let me stay here until the storm calms down.” He huffed, another branch cut, “I’m already soaked and dirty anyway…” he let out a yelp of surprise when the little wolf suddenly moved and jumped at his face, finally free, and Leonard fell down on his back. Turning around, he saw the wolf running away with still a little piece of branch around one leg, “You’re welcome, by the way!” he yelled annoyed. 

“Bones, what-“ 

“Jim? I can’t hear you…” Leonard stood up looking around one last time before starting to climb the cliff, “Damn signal… Jim? Captain?” 

After some static and more broken words, Jim’s voice was finally back, “Bones, you hear me?” 

“Yeah. Ready for teleport when you want.” 

After a moment of silence, the Captain’s voice sounded more resigned than ever, “We can’t. We’ll get you soon as we got the signal again.” 

“Alright… Hey, how are you? The fever dropped?” 

“Yeah. I’m fine.” 

“I can tell you’re lying from down here…” Leonard huffed. 

“Don’t try to change the subject, Bones. You better have a good explanation for your actions this time.” Jim said, voice low and serious. 

_There’s only one explanation, but it would sound stupid and kind of embarrassing_ , Leonard thought, sighing, then he gasped in surprise so suddenly, he almost fell back: a gigantic black wolf was there, few steps away from him… and the little wolf on its back, not crying anymore. “Run to call mom, huh? Traitor.” He murmured.

“Bones?” 

Leonard ignored the Captain, kept staring at the big wolf that just stared back for a long moment before blink and turn around, leaving calmly. The Doctor started to breathe again, smiling a bit, “You know Jim, maybe isn’t too bad being stuck here-“ trying to finish the climb, his foot slipped and Leonard rolled back down until he hit hard against something with his back. With a groan of pain, he tried to stand, recognizing the fallen tree. Something was sliding over his left arm and he looked puzzled at it: a branch of that plant was moving around it.

Leonard knew what was coming next, watching a series of thorns growing from the branch, at least two centimeters each, and he found himself stuck in panic until the pain spread into his whole body when all the thorns pierced his arm at the same time. The scream he let out echoed into the bridge of the Enterprise, making James Kirk’s blood run ice cold.

“Bones!” He called, standing up from the Captain’s chair, “Bones, answer me!”. There was a moment of silence, then the doctor’s finally answered. 

“-still here.” He managed to say in a shaken voice. It felt like a shark was ready to tear his arm off. 

“What happened?” 

“Little problem… hold on a sec.” He murmured under his breath, ignoring the rest of the angry speech from the captain. Instead, he tried to move away because the last thing he wanted was a deadly hug from that plant. He crawled his legs away, more thorns ready to hit, but cutting just the fabric. The branch around his arm, sadly, was unmoving and he found himself on his knees, grabbing the trapped arm with the hand still free, with tears of anger and pain running over his face. Trying to push away was even worst: every movement was a storm of pain from his arm to all the rest of his body. 

“Leonard?” Uhura called, her voice tense, but trying to be also encouraging, “The Captain is coming back with the shuttle, but we’re still ready to beam you up. He’ll be there in a moment, just hang on, alright?” 

“The Captain will come here to finish the job... awesome.” He sighed, already imagining Jim marching into the shuttle like a one-man army, and groaned in pain. He had no idea that plant could be so aggressive, or how quickly the thorns were absorbing his blood, but he couldn’t feel the fingers of his left hand already, so it sure was fast enough to be a problem. Leonard took some breaths and tried to move again, grabbing tightly on the arm with another groan of pain. _I need my arm, damn it…_

“He won’t, don’t worry. Can you tell me what happened?” Uhura asked. 

“It’s- it’s a plant… it can absorb blood- already doing it- through the thorns.” 

“A plant is absorbing your blood?” 

“Weird, I know… and not very enjoyable.” He sighed, starting to feel weak, “Listen… if I pass out, tell Jim to cut the- the other branches first, not the one around my arm… Need- need something better than a knife to take that off.” 

“Got it, but you try to stay awake.” 

“Already trying…” he mumbled, but he was starting to think that the plant was not just absorbing the blood, but also injecting something to weakened him faster. After a moment, Leonard fell on his side, staring at the plant around his arm, cursing at it only mentally. 

Some cracks made him turn his head and he flinched finding the big wolf hovering over him. “Well… as if dying because of a vampire-plant isn’t enough…” he murmured.

The wolf got closer, touched him with his nose, sniffing him and then the plant. 

Leonard closed his eyes when he saw terrifying, sharp fangs appearing and going down for a bite… but then, he could feel his arm still there in one piece: the wolf was biting the plant to help him get free. He stared at the animal in amazed, crying out when it seemed that the thorns were going deeper into his flesh, but the wolf was already pushing him away from the bushes with her nose, the branch still around his arm. Taking some deep breath, he looked at the wolf, “T- thanks.” He murmured with a little nod. 

The gigantic wolf just blinked calmly, then looked behind him. 

Leonard turned around in time to see Jim appearing some steps away and his glare was murderous, phaser ready to shot. “Don’t- Jim, don’t shoot!” he yelled, trying to stand up in front of the wolf, a hand against his Captain that obeyed but didn’t lower the weapon. “The wolf- saved me, it’s-…” Leonard tried to say, but fell down again, feeling terribly weak. He saw Jim next to him a second later, now a worried expression on his face, “Plant… over my arm- don’t touch it…” he murmured before closing his eyes and hoped to faint.

.-.-.-.

Of course, Leonard MacCoy rarely got what he wanted in his life, so he didn’t actually fainted, but kept his eyes closed, hearing fragments of discussions over the constant pain from his arm.

After some time he noticed that there wasn’t rain hitting his body anymore, no more cold, freezing air. When hands placed on his pained arm, he flinched hard, eyes wide open. 

“It’s ok, Doctor,” a nurse said bending a bit over him that was laying in a bed of the Enterprise’s sickbay, “We need to remove this branch. We can sedate you if you want?” 

“N-no. Damage?” 

“Nothing severe, but the thorns are deep enough for us to be very careful. You also lost a lot of blood in a so short time.” 

“Then- take that thing off me.” 

“You sure you don’t want to-“ 

“NO. I want- I want to stay awake.” 

The nurse looked at someone behind the bed and then sighed, “As you want, Doctor. I’ll be ready to use painkillers if I see you in too much distress.” 

“I’m already in distress…” Another flash of pain made him shut his eyes closed before she started to work on his arm. 

 

Say that Leonard was tired when he woke up wasn’t remotely enough to describe his status: he felt light pain everywhere, weak and with his head heavy… but when he looked around and found Jim sitting on other bed next to him, the first thing he came up with was “You drugged me?” 

Jim looked up, his face a mix of resignation and coldness, “You fainted after the operation started.” 

“Oh.” Was all he managed to say. After a minute, he tried to sit up, just to find captain’s hand smashed on his black tank top, holding him down. 

“You’re not leaving this bed for now. Got it?” Jim warned. 

Leonard sighed, thinking that those words could’ve sound much more interesting in a different situation. _Now I am starting with the sick-flirting_ , he thought sadly, while the hand didn’t moved away from his chest. “I was just trying to sit up.” He murmured and hissed a bit when moving his arm, suddenly aware of what had happened: he looked at his arm now free from any branch and thorns, but completely bandaged up, from wrist to shoulder. 

“Bones...” Jim was cut off when the doctor grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him down, placing a hand on his forehead. 

Leonard checked his eyes too, “Fever’s gone. What did they give you? OUCH!” He yelped when the captain hit his head against his own, getting free. 

“You’re really going to do this?” Jim asked angrily. 

“If you mean check that you’re alive, yes, I’ll do that.” 

“You got beat up _and_ almost died because a plant was draining the blood out of you and you want to check if _I’m_ ok?” 

Leonard stared at him because for a moment, he looked ready to cry, but the second later there was anger again. “Well, I’m a doctor, not a botanist. I didn’t know what that plant was.” 

“And risking your life for a man wasn’t enough. You had to help a wolf too?” 

“I had to- hey, you didn’t shot back then, right? I think that big wolf was its mother- or father, I didn’t check-“ 

In the corridor outside the sickbay, Spock and Uhura heard perfectly their Captain screaming **What the hell is wrong with you?!** , making jump the human and frown the Vulcan. 

“Please, don’t scream…” Leonard cried, hands over his ears. 

“After what happened, you think I give a shit about that gigantic, alien wolf?” 

“But you didn’t-“ 

“ _No_ , I did not shoot at it!” 

“Oh… good. It wasn’t hurt, was it?” 

“Bones, I swear…” 

“Free her puppy wasn’t easy, you know? He was-“ Leonard stopped when Kirk grabbed him, this time, by the collar of his tank top, bending over him like death itself. 

“Maybe you didn’t get it the first time: you almost died down there.” 

“Yes, I’m aware.” He huffed. 

Jim was more frustrated that angry, “Damn it Bones, I’m still the Captain here, and you just-“ 

“And you were sick. I had all the reasons to-” 

“I never left anyone behind. You think I would leave _you_ , of all the people, to save myself?” he yelled back. 

Leonard stared at him, his heart skipping a bit, “I- I know you wouldn’t.” 

Jim sighed, lessening the grip on him, “Then, dying or not, don’t you dare to take a decision like that for me ever again. That’s an order.” 

“I thought that that was what you would expect me to do in that kind of situation.” He deadpanned. 

“Are you giving me the _Vulcan attitude_ now?” 

“I’m just saying that I was responsible for you down there.” 

“I never asked you to do put yourself in danger for me-”

“Well, maybe I was tired of watching you risking your life every single time.” He interrupted. 

Jim slowly lost his temper, taking a deep breath, eyes softening. 

Then, hearing a beeping, both of them turned to look at the screen next to the bed. “It’s just my heartbeat…” Leonard sighed. Maybe he was trying too hard; maybe he was trying to see something that wasn’t there- not in Jim’s eyes, not in his heart… but how he could be so blind, was something beyond the Doctor knowledge. 

Leonard ignored the part of his mind telling me to stop, and when his heart calmed down a bit, he moved his left hand to grab Jim’s wrist. He tried to squeeze a bit, but a flash of pain made him flinch immediately.

“Stop that.” Jim scolded him. 

“Just testing…” It was true, and he could also feel Jim’s heart running like a train. “You should calm down a bit too.” He murmured, letting go.

“I should just punch you in the face.” 

“Just more work for me, thanks.” 

Jim sighed, staring at the fabric he was still grabbing in his hand, “You know you don’t have to prove anything, right?”

The Doctor took a deep breath to stay calm, _You really don’t get it…_

“Not to me, not to anyone. Everyone on this ship is important, and you’re one of the most important. You’re the Doctor… my Doctor.” 

Leonard carefully sat up, caressing his bandaged arm, “Maybe it’s not enough.” There, plain and clear. He almost couldn’t believe he actually said that but… too late to take it back, so he swallowed down the anxiety and wait for a reaction.

Jim blinked then said, “You’ll have to walk over my dead body if you’re thinking to leave this crew, I can assure you that.” 

Leonard frowned for a second, ready for a perplexed _what?_ , but then he thought better and just dropped his shoulders in resignation, “I didn’t mean- never mind. Forget it.” He murmured, shaking his head. The kid was _completely_ clueless. 

“Bones…” Jim said carefully, “Where you… trying to impress me?” and a punch sent him down on the floor. 

“I’ve never met someone so damn blind.” The Doctor growled standing up and wobbling over the screen to check his own status. 

“I thought we were sharing a moment here…” Jim cried climbing the bed, massaging his cheek. 

“Look, it just happened that we met those people on an unknown planet while you were sick, I’m not blaming you for eating an alien fruit, because- well, I should’ve expected something like that from you.” 

“Thanks…” 

“And it just happened that an alien plant was killing their friend and I was there to help. I am a medic, saving creatures is my job, so that’s what I did, human or- or animals. And you-“ he stopped to take a breath and turn around, “And your job is to jump into dangerous situations, so that’s probably why we work so well together. It’s just hard to keep that in mind when I have to see you bleeding over my table every week.” 

“Bones…” 

“But I don’t regret my decision. That’s what even Spock would’ve done, so I know it was right.” He snorted, going back to check the screen.

“Yeah, he would’ve probably arrived at the same idea... because was the most logical conclusion.” 

“See?” 

“Instead, you did it because you love me.” 

Leonard’s fingers froze over the screen, staring at it but not actually reading anything. He could feel eyes scanning his every little movement now, and he tried hard to stay still. He considered stop breathing as well, but that would be counterproductive… 

“I wouldn’t be so angry if it was Spock,” Jim continued, sitting on the now empty bed, “but I am at you because I made a mistake and you were ready to pay for it… because _you_ risked your life for me.” 

“I told you, it wasn’t your fault,” Leonard said, looking sideways at him. What was happening? Because he was pretty sure _something_ was happening right now…

After a moment, Jim murmured a low “Hey…” and that was enough to make him turn around. 

Leonard stared at his arm stretched and he carefully moved closer. 

Jim gently grabbed his bandaged arm, caressing his wrist, studying his fingers before moving them to his lips. He then looked at the blushing doctor and said, “If you’re going to start doing the hero, you’ll have to teach me how to patch you up.” 

He swallowed hard, “You mean…?” 

Jim sighed, “Bones, if you start being so blind too, we’re never gonna make it.” He murmured with a grin on his face.

Leonard didn’t lose any more time and moved to cup his face with both hands and kiss him like he always wanted to do. _Not so blind, afterall_.  
.  
.  
.  
End.  
.  
.  
.  
*Note to read just if you're curious about some fun-facts*

This entire fic was actually two different little fics I wrote in different times. The first one was more Bones-centric, about his being on the ship and why. Originally, Bones had to patch up Kirk and few other coming back from the planet because a wolf (yes, that same wolf) attacked them... Not happy about it, Bones keeps scolding the Captain until he asked the doctor why he was there in the first place. The fic started from there, with Bones' sudden decision to go down on the planet alone because of an SOS signal he heard and end up stuck there because of the vampire-plant, trying to save the little baby wolf. Just him, actually, because Kira and Kyle's group didn't existed there, the SOS was coming from a little robot belonging to a previous team that crashed on the planet trying to save other species of animal, and the robot kind of became the 'guardian' of those animals. I felt bad not using that robot, was a cute piece (and also more plot-ish), but the story evolved and there was no place for it anymore. Also, the ending came from this fic.

The second fic was about Kirk and Bones exploring a planet, Jim eating the strange fruit and get sick, with Bones taking care of him and... that was it. Just a little, quick fluffy fic. Then, my brain elaborated the possible combination of this fics and I think it came out not too bad, after all... Hope you all like it and thanks for reading.


End file.
